


Eternal Illusion

by apolloshalo



Category: Original Work
Genre: Aromantic, Asexual, Canada, Dystopia, Fantasy, Hold on to your hats, Magic, Multi, Northern Ontario, Planet, Prophecy, Stars, Supernatural Elements, Superpowers, Urban Fantasy, aromantic asexual protagonist, axe wielding, basically summer camp, but it isn't obvious, kingdom - Freeform, lost kingdom - Freeform, she studies the blade instead of relationships, there will be some violence but not until later, with war and weapons and the quest to find a missing magical kingdom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:08:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27313819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apolloshalo/pseuds/apolloshalo
Summary: Nixie Stone is whisked away to a camp called the Base, which is the living ruins of an older lost civilization where its descendants practice the magic. Nixie and her friends search for the missing magical civilization of their ancestors all while getting swept up in a war and a conspiracy bigger than all of them.-there will be war, and battles, and magic, so if that's your thing read and review! Nixie is aromantic and asexual, so romantic relationships are limited to subplots. hey... there's a war going on here.





	1. one || a crazy amount of orchids

**a crazy amount of orchids**

**summary:** Nixie helps her mom with party-planning and finds herself face-to-face with someone that can lead her to a missing person from her past- at a price.

"Nixie! Why aren't the patio chairs out?"

 _Because I don't_ want _to put them out_ , I thought, but reluctantly trudged down the creaky wooden stairs from my bedroom. My mother has been planning a barbecue with her friends and colleagues from work, and for the first three days of summer vacation, I haven't done anything but help out. Check the phone messages. Do the dishes. Call the florist and place the order for an unnecessary amount of orchids. Mash the potatoes. Since my mother works nine to five in an office, that means _I'm_ the one with all the free time, so I'm also the one who has to do all the work. Which isn't fair at all- I'm not even going.

I crossed our living room and stuffed my shoes into my rubber boots, and hopped into the backyard. The kitchen window was open, and I could hear my mother clanging dishes in the sink. The barbecue was starting around two, and was planned to last until late tonight. When my mother told me her plan for everyone to stay late, I kept it to myself that no one could probably stand to stay past five without a drink.

I crossed our massive backyard and headed to the shed in the back. Part of it was shady and scattered with willow trees, and had the shed and the chicken coop and a tire swing. The other part, closer to the house, had short, trimmed trees lined in an orderly fashion, and had patio stones and a pond and an umbrella attached to the patio table. Our lousy barbecue sat against the wall of the house, waiting to be used. I would be surprised if my mother could pull this off- it's my dad's old barbecue, and my mom hardly knows how to even use it and has no one to learn from since my dad isn't exactly around anymore. Neither is my brother, but fat chance you'll learn how to barbecue from an eight year old boy.

Well, he _was_ eight. The last time I saw him.

I pulled open the rusty shed doors, which imitated nails on a chalkboard. There's no light in here, just the sunlight that makes it through the trees. I look around for a moment, and lay my eyes on the patio chairs- they're dusty and folded up in the corner of the shed.

It takes a lot of work to drag them out of the shed, but when I do, they drag much better along the grass. When I finally get all six chairs across the lawn, the grass where the chair legs were pulled is all pressed down and messy. I smile to myself, even though I had just partially ruined the grass I had just mowed yesterday.

"Nixie!" my mother cried from the kitchen, even before I could set the chairs around the table. "The doorbell just rang. It's probably the orchids! Oh, get it!"

In no rush, I stepped back through our glass door and passed my mother, who was just washing the last pan in the sink. The doorbell rang again, and I picked up my pace a bit to the door, stepping on the entrance rug on my way with my somewhat muddy shoes.

"Nix- _ie!_ "

I pulled open the door, embarrassed that the flower guy standing in front of me heard my mother yelling.

"Miss Stone?" the man asked me, and I nodded. I wasn't lying- I couldn't pass for my mother, a thirty-nine year old going through a mid life crisis, but I was still single Nixie Stone. "That's me."

"Alright," said the man, scratching at his moustache. "I have fourteen bouquets of orchids, is that correct?"

"Yes," I replied, looking at his van while he wrote something on a clipboard. The back was open, and several orchids filled it. It was looking like if my mother had ordered fifteen, they would have all tumbled out. That was a crazy amount of orchids.

"Okay then," the florist guy said. "I'll just need you to sign... oh, no..."

I raised my eyebrows, wondering what you could possibly do wrong when all you needed to do was deliver some flowers.

"I'm very sorry," the man said. "I've... I seemed to have misplaced my sign sheet... I _swear_ I clipped it to this... Ma'am, I suppose I can give you your flowers and- uh, is it fine if I return later for you to pay?"

"Perfect," I said to him, knowing my mom hated delaying things. "Just put them in the back. We'll deal with them later."

The man nodded, slid his pen back into his clipboard, and hurried over to his van. I turned around, but my eye caught a bush rustling behind where the man was just standing before I did.

"What did he say?" my mother asked, washing her hands.

I closed the door and shrugged. "Not much. He's unloading them in the back and coming back later so we can pay."

My mother sighed. "Really? Did you tell him to? Nixie, why must you make everything harder than it has to be-"

"This wasn't me!" I said, pretty loudly. "He forgot a sheet or something. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be setting up chairs and reading in my room for the rest of the night."

"Oh, come on," my mother protested. "Don't you want to hang out with us? Have a burger or something-"

"For heaven's sake, mother, you _know_ I don't eat meat and you _know_ I don't have fun talking to your friends-"

"Matt's coming later," my mother said, as if that would make me want to stay. "You guys could talk about... _music_ or something..."

I felt like ripping my hair out. Matt was my mother's twenty-something new boyfriend. He likes cars and guitars and drinking, and it makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable knowing that my mom is dating someone ten years older than me.

"There is practically _nothing_ to talk about to him with, mother! Guitars are not the same as pianos! You know what- I'll just go to my room now. Enjoy your _barbecue_."

I stomped up the stairs, not caring if I sounded like a brat. Matt wasn't good for my mother- he would probably bring a stack of beer to this and kiss like three of my mother's coworkers and she would _still_ go running back to him because he's young and hot. Well, young and hot to my mother.

I slammed my door, and flung myself back into my quilted bed. My window overlooked the backyard, and I drew the curtains shut in a haste. Guests would be arriving soon, and I didn't want any of them staring in my bedroom window.

My room was pretty small. It was on the third floor of the house, which was split: my room and storage. The roof had a triangular curve to it, since it was the attic. There were stairs leading up to it, and it was pretty cramped with my bed, dresser and bookshelf, but my mother wanted the other second floor bedroom to be a guest room that we hardly ever use. When I was a kid, I didn't mind. I thought my room was cool.

Downstairs, I heard my mother talking faintly. Guests must have already started to come. I sighed, lying down on my bed on my stomach, which was empty. I hadn't eaten since breakfast. Peeking out the curtain, I saw my mother leading people outside to the patio. Matt was one of them. He had stopped talking to my mother and was now sitting in a patio chair and talking to some young woman.

I checked my watch- 1:30. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

It was long after 5 when the doorbell rang again.

I sat up in bed, putting my book down again. Outside my window, I could make out my mother struggling with the barbecue, and guests scattered along the yard. I could hear chatter through my window, which was slightly open, so I figured whoever was at the door could hear it too and figure out where to go.

I had just settled back down with my book when the doorbell rang _again_.

"Dammit!" I cursed, tossing my book onto the end of my bed and hopping off.

I rushed down the stairs, and headed to open the door, hopefully without being seen by anyone outside through the sliding glass door. I pulled open the door, and outside stood a woman dressed in black.

"Nixie Stone?"

I narrowed my eyes at the woman. She didn't look like she was dressed exactly for a barbecue. Besides, she was about three hours late. "Listen," I said. "The barbecue's in the back, I think you missed the meal, but..."

I trailed off as I saw a yellow van in the lane way. The flower delivery man. Did he send someone else? "I can get money for the orchids," I offered, waiting for the woman to confirm that's why she was here. "How much did it cost? I-"

"I took care of it," the woman said, "but I need you to come with me."

My face paled as I looked the woman over. Yes, she was in all black- black tattered shirt, fresh black pleather jacket, black leggings, combat boots. Around her waist was a black utility belt with various little things attached to it. This felt like a movie.

I was definitely not a horror movie chick who falls for every little thing. So I stood back, and in a flash, slammed the door- except it didn't close. One thick combat boot was between the door and the frame.

I turned and ran. Up the stairs, up more stairs, suddenly mad that my mother never gave me a room with a door, just private stairs. No way I was keeping this lady out of my room. I had cornered myself.

I looked around my room for a weapon. Footsteps thundered up the stairs, and thanks to quick thinking, I ripped the curtain pole off the top of my window and swung it around me, nailing the woman just in time around her chin.

My victory was small, though. A gloved hand wrapped around my ankle, pulling me from under so that I landed on my mattress with a bouncing thud. Before I could scream, her other hand wrapped around my face and over my mouth.

"I need you to listen to me very carefully," the woman said. "I'm your Leader from the Base, okay? I came here because I'm doing my job. Kid, I could sense your energy from miles away. My job is to bring you to the Base where you'll be safe, because you're not safe right now. Not here.

"When I move my hand, I need you to promise not to scream, okay? I'm not trying to- _shit!_ "

I bit down as hard as I could on the Leader's hand, and climbed back on to my bed, grabbing my curtain pole and positioning the end at her neck. "You're not taking me anywhere," I whispered. "Leave right now before I break your neck."

Pretty bold of me to say, but I needed to sound intimidating enough for her to believe me. And I could see it, too, in her eyes- fear. But as quick as I had grabbed the pole, she moved it away with her hands, flinging it down the stairs. I grimaced- hopefully no one outside heard that.

"Nixie," the Leader said. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

In a desperate search around my room, I had no other weapons. My lamp was behind the Leader, on my dresser.

"If you don't back up right now I'm going to jump," I threatened. "I'm going to jump out of my window."

The Leader stopped moving closer, looking exasperated. "Oh, come on. Nixie, please, I'm trying to _save_ you-"

"And I'm trying to save myself!" I argued, still keeping it quiet. "Listen, I don't _know_ you-"

"I know _you_ , Nixie," the Leader said. "I know that your dad and brother went missing seven years ago, and I know where they are. I know you've just turned sixteen, and I know that you're going to regret not coming with me if you don't. I know you only want me to move back so that you can make it down the stairs, and run to safety but you'll only be safe if you come with me, Nixie."

"How do you know my dad? And Nate?"

The Leader crossed her arms. "Because they got taken by our enemy. _Our_ enemy, Nixie. This is connected. Your brother... he's at the Base. I can take you to him."

I shook my head. "No. No, this is too much. You need to go."

"Nixie," my Leader pleaded. "Don't make me do this the hard way."

I looked at the ground. If she wasn't lying about my dad and Nate... I haven't seen my twin brother in seven years. No one has ever had any leads on where they went. Until maybe now.

"Okay," I gulped, getting off my bed. "The easy way."

My Leader looked slightly less worried. "Okay. Pack your things. We don't have too much time. Every day since your sixteenth birthday, your energy radiates much more than it used to. Anybody who could sense you, would sense you."

I went to the corner of my room and picked up my old schoolbag, emptying it's contents into the floor. I stuffed in a few socks, underwear, a shirt, shorts, a pair of pants, bandana, hairbrush, hair elastics, until there wasn't much room left. I threw on a heavyweight jacket, even though it was around fifteen degrees out. If I didn't need it, I would just throw it somewhere. I already had a can of bug spray from my last camping trip in my bag that I had never taken off, and it had a little dog chain around it with a small compass. Maybe it would come in handy.

In the top drawer of my dresser, I stored things like vending machine trinkets and polaroids and nail polish. I skipped past my nail polish collection and snatched a mini photo album, stuffing it in my bag. There were old pictures of my family and I, _with_ my dad and brother _before_ my mother went bonkers. I would hold onto this.

I took a last scan of my room- whatever the Base was, it sounded like I wouldn't be home for a while. My favourite ring, a little crown, was already wrapped around my finger. My light brown hair was in a simple, long braid, out of my face. In one last vain moment, I grabbed a little finishing powder and mascara from the top of my bookshelf and slid it into the side pocket of my bag, which was also filled with like eight pads and tampons.

I also grabbed the book I'm reading right now- I'd need something to get me through this trip, and I'm a sucker for dystopian novels. I stuffed my phone into my jacket pocket, along with twenty bucks or so cash- it was all I had, plus my bank account being attached to my phone. When my mother notices I'm missing, she'll probably disable it sooner or later, but I'll use it while I can. On my last thought, I rushed back to my dresser and grabbed my pocket knife, stuffing it in the band of my bra.

"I'm ready," I finally said, slinging my bag over my shoulders.

My Leader smiled. "Awesome. Let's go, huh?"

I tried to give her a smile as I showed her down the stairs she had already come on. "So have you done this before? Abducted kids?"

"It's not _abducting_ if we're keeping you safe," my Leader responded, making my head spin.

"Isn't it?"

She sighed.

"So you have done this before," I concluded. "Do people always cooperate?"

"Unsurprisingly, no," my Leader said. "I thought you were going to be trouble. Most kids are leaving everything behind to come with us. Some people just don't have that much trust."

"Aren't I leaving everything behind?"

"Well, yes," she said. "But you're getting something. You're meeting your long lost brother, which in most cases, isn't a factor."

I nodded, stepping through the wide open door, not sure if anyone saw me from the back. "What was the hard way, anyways?"

My Leader unclips something from her belt, and holds it up in the air. A little needle.

"Wow," I breathed, suddenly glad I chose the easy way. "You would, too."

"Yes, I would," she said. "You're stubborn. But you know when not to be. That's good."

We walk down my lane way, idly by an unconscious man, who, with a closer look, was the flower delivery man, right outside his truck with a stack of money on his chest.

"You _did_ take care of it," I admired with a low whistle.

My Leader smirked and turned the corner behind the bush I saw rustle earlier, revealing a motorbike. "Get on," she said, tossing me a heavy helmet.

"Really? What do I do? Hang onto you?"

"Yup." My Leader strapped something to the bike, then gave the side a little bump with her heel. "Jump on."

I jumped on, nervous. I've only ever seen people ride motorbikes, I've never ridden one before. I strapped the helmet comfortably on my head, blocking my vision with a dusty glass frame.

The engine revved to life, I grappled my Leader's jacket with my hands, which were strapped in gloves. The vehicle was sending vibrations up and down my body, and when we took off I could only hope that no one heard us.


	2. two || runaways

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nixie clears some things up with her Leader, and starts making her way to the Base.

**Runaways**

**Summary:** Nixie clears some things up with her Leader, and begins travelling to the Base.

After about fifteen minutes on the road, my Leader drove into the closest small town from my house, Fenston. The sky was turning a soft pink over the horizon, where the sun was going down. The bike slowed, and I imagined myself still reading on my bed at home, with the perfect view of the sunset out my window. My mother's barbecue was probably just getting started. And instead of supporting her antics, I was on a journey to find my long lost brother with a lunatic I didn't even know.

"We're stopping for now," my Leader said, taking off her helmet and shaking out her wavy brown hair. "There's a couple that hosts an extra room a block from here. I was thinking we could bunk there for tonight and talk, hm?"

I nodded. "The Andersons, right?"

A smile fluttered across my Leader's face. "Right."

It was a small town, Fenston. There were two schools- one until grade eight, and a high school. Most of the kids who went to my high school lived in the rural area surrounding the town, like me. But couples like the Andersons have lived in Fenston forever. In small towns, you got to know people - it's hard to go unnoticed.

My Leader left the motorbike on the side of the road. "It's not mine," she explained. "I got it around here somewhere. It'll go back to whoever's it was."

I didn't doubt that if a motorbike was stolen, a random motorbike would be returned to the owner- not much theft went on around here, and if it did, you would've heard of it.

After I put my helmet on the bike and followed down the sidewalk, I wondered what the Andersons would think of me with a stranger who was obviously not from here. I always go to the market Fridays with my mother, and we'd buy their bread often. I couldn't wait for them to ask if there was trouble at home or something.

We reached a three storey brick house on the corner of the street, and my Leader walked right up to it and knocked on the old wooden door. I rushed up to her side, and a moment later, Mrs Anderson creaked open the door.

"Why, you must be tonight's guests," she exclaimed, and then laid her eyes on me. "Nixie Stone! What brings you here, sweetheart?"

I smiled as she opened the door. "Uh... my mother's hosting a barbecue tonight. Big one. I didn't want to be in the way and I thought I'd stay here with my, uh... second cousin."

I patted my Leader on the back, and she flashed a grin. "Just visiting."

Mrs Anderson's face lit up and proceeded to show us around. "That's absolutely wonderful! Come on over here, darlings, this is the kitchen... living room... bathroom... stairs- your room is up on the left. I apologise, as I've only got one bed..."

"One is just fine," my Leader assures Mrs Anderson, climbing up the stairs with her bag and pack. I smiled again at Mrs Anderson, who beamed back at me.

"Just so you ladies know, I've got a chicken in the oven. You're both welcome to dinner and breakfast, whenever you'd like."

"Thank you so much," my Leader responded. "We'll keep it in mind."

The room on the left was a small room, but only had a bed in against the wall and a dresser in the corner, creating space. "You take the bed," I said. "I've been sleeping in one my whole life. You sound like you've been on the road."

I was expecting an annoying, "No, _you_ take the bed," but my Leader just stared at me kind of grateful, and sat on the bed, putting her stuff down next to it. I rested my backpack against the wall, and almost settled down on the carpeted floor when a pillow and a blanket was thrown on top of me.

"Thought you'd want that," my Leader said, grinning at me. I positioned the pillow onto the soft blue carpet, and wrapped the blanket into a makeshift sleeping bag. I plopped my head down when she said, "You want any food?"

"No," I replied, thinking of the chicken dinner. "I... ate at home."

My Leader nodded. "Okay then. Should we turn out the light? I mean, it's almost dark, and we should get up early tomorrow. Get on the road before sunrise."

I widened my eyes. "It's only, like, five-thirty."

She nodded. "And we'll be up by three."

Huh. So much for sleeping in.

My Leader stepped over me and went over to the door, turning the light out.

"Wait," I said, looking at her through the light of the street lamp out the window. "How do you know who I am? Where to find me?"

My Leader sighed as she lied on the mattress. "I could feel you," she explained in the dark. "At the Base, a select few of us every generation are Leaders. We can especially feel the energy emitted by teens, and we can track it until we find you. Your energy was very strong, just so you know. Some of our enemy can sense where you are, too- I'm surprised that no one's found you yet. Remember how I told you that your energy is magnified when you turn sixteen?"

"Yes," I answered, realising she couldn't see me nod.

"Well, happy birthday," she said. "You have a unique power and have to go to the Base to learn how to control it."

Anger flared inside me. "That is _not_ why I came with you. I came to find my brother."

My Leader sighed again, rolling over. "Well, you'll get to do that too."

A moment of silence filled the air until I asked, "How do you know so much about me?"

My Leader took a big breath. "Well, I've known you've existed ever since I knew Nate. He's always wanted to see you, but he arrived there under different circumstances. Almost everyone at the camp is older than sixteen, because that's the age your powers start to show, you know? That's when you radiate energy strong enough for Leaders like me to trace. No one, though, leaves the Base without permission. Leaders can go alone, since we're trained- but we have enemies just waiting to catch us off guard, on our own.

"So fast forward. The Base is about a two days journey from here if you're walking and taking a car, on and off. I was an hour away from your house, Nixie, and I could feel your energy. It was like a second sun. Whenever I detect a supernatural, I find them, and Lead them back to the Base. Hence the word, Leader. But when I arrived at your house, some guy was there delivering flowers, so I took his papers so he would come back, and I hid in one of your bushes and kind of listened in, so I knew it was you at the door. After that I looked you up. Nixie Stone, sixteen years old, Fenston Hugh School. Going into grade eleven. Address, phone number, et cetera. I came back some hours later, and boom, here we are."

I was silent for a minute, just to take it all in. "Nate's doing well?"

I could hear the smile in my Leader's voice. "I don't know him well- he's way younger than me. But I've seen him train. He's one of the best."

Happiness flowed within my body. Nate was doing good. And maybe it was good for him to be there, too- I'm not excusing whatever method he went to the Base in- I still don't know who took him- but it's where he belongs. And by the sound of it, where _I_ belong.

"Did you have any siblings?" I asked, and waited for an answer, which never came. I tried changing the subject, assuming she had no siblings or she had bad memories of them. "So do you, like, travel the world to find people like me? Or are we all just bunched up close to the Base?"

"Generally bunched up around the Base," she mumbled. I hardly opened my mouth to ask another question when her hand shot up in the dark, holding something from her belt. "If you don't go to sleep in the next five minutes I'm using this."

In the glint of light outside, I saw the syringe, which was first presented in the 'hard way' explanation. I didn't respond to her after that.

But I didn't fall asleep in the next five minutes- I layed there motionlessly for at least half an hour before starting to drift off. My Leader may have been up all night and all day, but I usually don't get up until at least nine. It was summer vacation- I was using it to my advantage.

My last thought consisted of the sleeping in I'd get to do at the Base while following through with all this self-discovery that she was talking about. I was excited, but also nervous, and it's not like I would admit that to anyone. I would face this head on, like always. With my brother by my side.

* * *

I woke up to my Leader shaking me violently back and forth. "Get up," she whispered. "We have to leave here. Get your stuff."

I took my phone out of by bag and checked the time. It was three fifteen. For three in the morning, I was surprisingly well-rested.

"Where to now?" I wondered aloud, but my Leader _ssh_ 'd me, putting her finger over her mouth.

She swung open the door. "Now we leave Fenston and go on foot to Wheel Bay, where we'll be there by seven and catch a bus to Starfield over by three, and from there, we'll walk to the Base and be there before sundown."

I crept out the door and down the stairs. "I thought you said this was a two- day trip by car and on foot."

"It was, for me," she explained. "But the bus was already in Wheel Bay when I was in Starfield on my way to you, so I would've had to wait. If we catch the eight hour bus ride, we'll make good time."

I nodded, adjusting my bag across my back as we both silently slipped out the door. My Leader motioned me to follow her, and I did- I knew these streets like the back of my hand, but I gave her credit for going the right way.

We dashed under and away from streetlamp after streetlamp through the bare streets that no one would drive on for at least another two hours. It wasn't long until we had reached the outskirts of town and the lights faded behind us as we started into the woods.

We walked right in the middle of the road, since it was the middle of the night and the roads here were also empty.

After walking for almost four hours, the sun began to peek out from the horizon, knowing it was almost time to shine. "Seven o'clock," my Leader observed, looking at her watch. "Wheel Bay. Right on time."

On the hill we stood at, the town of Wheel Bay was settled below in the valley. The town circled the water like a horseshoe, with busyness sprouting from the centre already. It was a bit bigger and livelier than Fenston.

"C'mon," my Leader said, walking still down the road. "We don't want to miss the bus."

The bus turned out to be a coach-looking vehicle with faded navy seats that were attached in singles along both walls. We were the first to get on it, since Wheel Bay was the first stop and apparently no one else from around here needed to go to Starfield at seven in the morning.

I handed my ticket that my Leader gave me to the bus driver, a frail man who wore a kind of uniform that showed how dedicated he was to this driving around business. I chose a seat on the left side of the bus, and my Leader took one diagonally ahead of me.

Out of her bag, my Leader pulled out s small little book and I remembered mine in my own bag. I wasn't even halfway done- but if it really was an eight hour bus ride, then I was looking at the whole book and then some free time.

For the first little duration of the ride, it was just my Leader and I reading, with the sky's colours changing from orange to pink to blue. Every so often the bus would stop at a station, but no one would get on. I supposed the start of summer wasn't that busy for this bus company.

I finished my book after maybe five hours on the road- it was six hundred pages, give or take. When I snuck it back into my bag, I looked at my Leader, who's head was ducked into her chest. I guess ten hours of sleep wasn't enough for her.


	3. three || death before dishonour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nixie gets a hands-on experience of the ways of the Base, and learns to rely on her own wits.

**Death Before Dishonour**

**Summary:** Nixie gets a hands-on experience of the ways of the Base, and learns to rely on her own wits.

The bus came to another stop, and the doors opened. I thought that we would immediately be on our way, but after about thirty seconds a band of people boarded the bus.

My Leader kept her head down- unintentionally, I think, if she was sleeping- as they approached the back of the bus. There were four of them, all quite intimidating. The one in front was a burly dark skinned man. He was definitely the tallest, strongest looking. Behind him were two smaller pale men with dark hair and sunglasses covering their eyes. And behind _them_ was a woman who was also tall, blonde, and muscular. She had sort of an earpiece chipped in her ear, which you could only see because of her right ponytail. They all wore sturdy black clothes- jacket, pants, boots.

The biggest man took a seat at the very front, the woman at the back, and the two other men took the seats directly in front of and behind me. I kept my eyes down, heart pumping. My Leader hasn't budged. I didn't know why they didn't sit together- it was obvious that they were all part of a group. But this placement made me incredibly uneasy.

The bus doors closed, and when they did it sent chills down my spine. When we were on the road again, I tried to calm down and keep my fear internal.

After taking a deep breath, I reached for my bag to get my book- I figured I could re read it to take my mind off the crew that had filed in. But no sooner did I bend over to my right to unzip my bag did both men around me fidget and flinch.

I pretended to ignore their actions as I fake-searched through my bag. Forget the book. I needed to be alert.

After a little bit of driving again, we were in the middle of the woods. Outside the windows, I tried focusing on the trees sweeping by. No one talked except for the odd mutters coming from the woman in the back of the bus. My best guess was that she was talking on her earpiece.

Boy, was I in trouble.

I didn't want to wake up my Leader in case there was a small chance that the gang didn't think we were together. Did they know we often travelled to the Base with a Leader? Or were they unsure of acting with a random person plus the driver in the bus?

I took a deep breath. I was defenceless against these guys. I could try waiting them out, but then they'll know I'm with my Leader and follow us off the bus. I could jump out the window, but I couldn't make a move without the guys around me twitching. I _could_ pretend to go talk to the bus driver, but even that might look suspicious-

There it was. Out of the corner of my eye, through the window's reflection, was the man behind me, fiddling a knife between his fingers, and slowly raising in his seat. The woman had stopped talking to her earpiece. My Leader has stopped her light snoring. The tires tumbled under the road, and that was all.

I could feel him standing up slowly, all the way. I could feel the impending slice of a knife against the back of my neck already, and that was _not_ something I wanted to feel.

In the reflection again, I saw his fingers regrip the knife and I knew he was about to strike.

It's now or never.

I tumbled into the aisle of the bus, and quickly pulled the knife holder's leg from under him by his ankle. He landed on the seat, his head smashing against the window, which shattered on impact. I put my knee just above his ankle and pulled his foot up at an inhuman degree. The other man jumped on me, and for a second all I could see was the black fabric of his shirt as he punched my temple over and over again.

Just then, I remembered my pocket knife- I reached into my shirt and tugged it out- the man on top of me was too busy beating the shit out of me to notice, and the woman in the back was talking fast in her headpiece. I couldn't see the big man.

I flicked the knife, and thrust it upwards. It was only a second until blood soaked my hands and his shirt. I positioned my feet on his rib cage, and thrust him away from me, and tucked my knife back in the band of my bra. Looking up, I saw the man who was on me fall back into the muscular man who my Leader has seemed to be fighting. We exchanged a quick glance at each other, then at the two men I had just defeated, one on top of the man my Leader was fighting and the other with his bloody head half in, half out the window. I hadn't noticed that the bus stopped until now- the trees were still.

We looked up just in time to see the woman running at us, shouting at us, wielding a knife. 

Without a second thought, I dove at her legs and tackled her to the ground. My Leader was right above me, and pulled out a gun. One shot rang and echoed through the bus, and the woman was still.

"Thanks," my Leader said, and I nodded, panting. Behind her, the strong man approached us. My Leader raised her gun, but he shuffled his belt around quite fast and pulled out a gun, took some paces back, and pulled the bus driver from his seat. With the gun to the driver's head, he approached us once again. I climbed onto the seat my Leader previously sat in, standing out of the aisle.

"Put the gun down," he said, his voice rough and spiked. "And I won't kill this man."

The driver struggled against the man's hold on him, and my Leader's gun wavered.

The man just passed me and stopped, obviously not seeing how I took care two of his men and instead passing me off as weak.

"We need the girl," he says, jerking his head at me. "You... well, it's a pleasure to see you. Been a while. I see you're still at it."

My Leader has been stepping back with each step the man took forward, but finally she tripped over the woman's body and was left aiming her gun with her back against the wall. "Grant. Please. I don't want to shoot you."

"Hey," I said, distracting Grant. "If you needed me so bad why did that guy pull a knife on me?"

At this Grant smiled, not losing eye contact with my Leader. "You misunderstand. That knife was intended for _you_ , princess."

Grant's eyes were now back on my Leader. Why would he try and kill her? Why did he need me?

I snuck back down into the aisle, seeing as Grant wasn't too bothered by what I did. Or maybe he was so caught up with my Leader's appearance that he forgot about me: his mission. They seemed to know each other, though.

I spotted just what I needed at the front of the bus- an axe, large and wooden with a metal blade, was strapped to a wall. I couldn't remember why buses had these on hand, but it sure came in handy. Smiling, I unstrapped it and silently slid off the safety. I slowly and silently made my way back over to Grant and my Leader, who were now still talking. Grant was getting dangerously close to her.

I closed my eyes, and swung the axe.

Grant's blood splattered all over me. I had buried the blade into the centre of his bald head, and when I yanked the axe out of his skull blood seeped out of the wound at an extraordinary pace. My Leader, a frozen look on her face, stuffed her gun back into a clasp on her belt. The bus driver stepped away from the body, and sat petrified in a seat.

"We should go," I said to my Leader.

She nodded dryly as I grabbed my bag from under the man I had first killed. As my Leader walked by, she let out a low whistle at the two men I had killed.

_Killed._

I was a murderer. I went on a trip to find my family and I had just killed three people. They could have had a family. Maybe someone at home who was expecting them for dinner when they came back from their day job of an assassin.

I took a deep breath of fresh forest air as I exited the bus. It was laced with pine, and it filled my lungs. They have probably killed more people than me. I did the world a favour.

"You're not so bad with an axe. I saw your form," my Leader commented.

It made me sick. "I just killed a man with an axe, and you paid attention to my _form?_ "

My Leader spun me around and gripped my shoulder. I winced. "Don't give me that. Where you're going, you're going to have to learn to kill. And you just showed skill doing that. You just killed three men and barely received a _scratch_. If you practise, train more, which you _will_ be doing at the Base- I can guarantee, you'll be good at it."

I couldn't take pride in what I just did. No matter what my Leader said. "I'll go where you're going," I repeated. "But you already know. I'm not going for the same reason as you."

My Leader shook her head and kept walking, letting go of her firm grip on my shoulder. "We have to keep moving. Those guys felt your energy all the way from the outskirts of that town. _That_ ," she said, "is a problem."

"I can't help it," I muttered, looking down at the gravel. "Can I?"

My Leader shook her head. "No. It's out of your control. But the stronger your power is, the more they can feel your Energy."

I scrunched my face. "How do you know they weren't feeling your energy?"

My Leader rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding? My power is moderate. You, on the other hand, I could sense you easily. That's why we're such easy targets."

"Gee, sorry I almost got us killed, then."

"No. It's absolutely not your fault. That's why I came to find you. You're special, Nixie."

"Did the gang from back there have a Leader? Since only certain people can sense energy?"

My Leader nodded again. "It wasn't Grant. I... we've met before. But maybe it was that girl talking into her microchip. She was out of the battle but they still had her tag along."

That made sense. She really wasn't a strong fighter, but sensing energy would be an asset, in her case. That's why she could find me. Me and my stupid large radar.

"Oh, God," I breathe, remembering the bus driver. "We just left the driver there in a bus full of dead _bodies_. This isn't a busy road, either. What if no one finds him..."

"He has a radio, I think. Anyways, it's not our problem. The police will report it as a targeted killing. All we have to worry about is getting to the Base before sundown, which might not happen now."

And to that, we walked, sometimes jogged, along the deserted road to Starfield.

* * *

By the time we got there, it was almost six o'clock, and nothing else eventful happened. We didn't even pass by any more towns in the five hours we traveled.

"Let's stop for a bite to eat," my Leader suggested the moment we set foot on the city streets. We walked down a few blocks, and we soon reached a plaza of restaurants and eateries alike.

I pointed to a little place with a patio. "Here."

I hoped that as we walked inside the fairy-lit entrance, no one would judge much the blood on my face, open jacket and shirt. I finally took my phone and other items out of the pockets and stuffed them into my bag, and left the bloodstained jacket on a hook. Not as much blood was on my shirt, so I hoped I looked satisfactory.

My Leader walked up to the counter, reading the menu behind and pulling a red wallet from her coat pocket. "Can we please get two waters and two garden wraps to go?" she asked, and after receiving an odd look from the cashier, we got our order taken. It only took a minute for them to make, and my Leader paid them in cash. I followed her out of the restaurant, and deliberately left my coat hung up. They could give it to someone who needed it.

On our way out, my Leader handed me the wrap and a water bottle as we speedwalked down the road. "Enjoy. Just wait until you get to the Base. The food is smash."

I could tell that she was using no sarcasm, and that was something to look on the bright side of. Good food.

After walking through the town, the sun was beginning to really set. It was like the reverse sunset of the morning- blue, pink, then orange. We seem to be on the edge of the city, finally.

My Leader turns to me and smiles. The lighting of the sun makes her skin glow a brilliant orange, and she looks happy to be so close to the Base. "I know I said we'd make it by sundown," she says as we begin to walk along a nice cobblestone bridge crossing a shallow river, "but as you see we got held up. I can feel the energy a little bit from here, though. We're close. Just straight North."

I look behind us at the city we leave behind. From the bridge, it is truly beautiful with the lights from buildings glowing as the sky dimmed. Only a few small complexes lined the street we were just on, and above the bridge was just nature. The tree line was full of big leafy maple trees, a bright emerald green. The road went from asphalt, to a stone bridge, to a gravel path that would eventually go to the Base.

My Leader brushed her hair back out of her face and pulls her backpack farther up her shoulders, about to say something when a sickening crack fills the air from a complex, and all of a sudden my Leader stumbles before me and over the side, low wall of the bridge while clutching her chest and I think _no, no, no_ as I jump over the same edge of the wall and onto the grass, just missing the river where my Leader floats. I pulled her up and against the stone wall that faces away from the complexes, which was where the shot rang out from.

My Leader scrambled to get her jacket off, and sure enough, a bullet wound seeps through her shirt. I fumble and tear fabric off my shirt, bunching it up and pressing it against the wound. I can feel tears well in my eyes as I am forced to watch her struggle to collect breaths that might be her last.

"Nixie," she gasped, looking at me. "Take my jacket. Pl-please. They'll know you were with me. I- I need you to run as fast as you can, not in a straight line, along that gravel path and then head north. You'll reach the Base. Say-" Another gasp. "Say hi to Nate for me," she asked, a smile curling along her weak face. "The shot... it came from the roof. They'll he sending someone to check on us. They know we're here. I need you to _run._ "

"I can't just leave you," I gasped. "They- they'll kill you, they-"

"Sssh," my Leader said, unbuckling something from her belt, making her strain. She passed me her gun. "I've got, like, four bullets in that. Use them wisely. When you get to the Base, find- find Calypso. And find your brother. Don't trust my mother."

"They'll torture you," I try, but before I can get another word out, my Leader held up the same syringe from before.

"They can try."

I start to sob.

"Hey," my Leader says, her voice breaking. "Run. Now, okay? Be safe. Don't stop."

I clutched my bag and her pleather jacket in my arms as I dug my feet in the ground, only able to nod small and fast. With one more tug at my sleeve, my Leader said one thing. Now she was kind of mumbling, but I heard her loud and clear.

"Death before dishonour."

She puts her hand in a weak fist over her heart, but I don't know if it's because that's where she got shot or if it's a sign of respect. I pick the latter.

I repeated, "death before dishonour."

And I ran.


End file.
